Piano sound-board



(No Model.)

Y T. NEWHOUSE.

PIANO SOUND BOARD.

No. 361,967. Patented Apr. 26, 1887.

Fly 7 L I I I I] \v j/ i 2 0 sis Aves A 2 1% re 7%? 0.7

/Lydnm 0/1 N. PETERS. PMIvLiiho-rnphu Wabinflom D.- C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE NEIVHOUSE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' PIANO SOUND- BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,967, dated April26, 1887.

Application filed February 15, 1886. Serial No. 191,930. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, THEODORE NEwHoUsE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Piano Sound Boards, of which the following is a full andcomplete descriptiou, when taken in connection with the where theresonant soundingboard is placed underneath the strings, by thevibration of which strings a musical toneis producedavhich tone isaffected by saidsounding-board; and the object of my invention is,primarily, to improve the sound-board of a piano, both in the qualityand quantity of the tones produced, when my invention is appliedthereto. I have illustrated my invention by the drawingsaccompanyingthis specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan view showingthe under side of a sound-board to which my invention is applied, andshowing by the dotted lines the bridges on the upper side of thesound-board. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line 2 2-of Fig. 1,andFig. 3 is a sectional elevation on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

A is the sound-board.

B B are the bridges.

C are ribs on the under side of the soundboard. .1

-D D are suspension chords or ribs superim posed upon ribs C.

I am aware that sounding-boards have been heretofore made'having ribs 0C placed on the under side thereof, and I do not therefore claimsupporting, strengthening, or otherwise affecting a sounding-board bythe placing thereon of ribs secured thereto, and also that a doublesoundboard composed of two soundboards, one in front of the backframing, the other in rear of it, said boards being sprung into anarched or crowning form by means of sound-posts introduced betweenthem,has been made; but so far as I am aware no soundingboards have beenheretofore made wherein the ribs so secured (and the sounding-board)have been supported, strengthened, or otherwise affected by thesuspension-ribs and the connect ing-pieces used by me.

By the use of the suspension-ribs, placed as described, I am able toreduce the amount of material used for the ribs of the soundingboard,and to obtain, in a much better manner than has heretofore been done,control over the vibration of any given string'strung upon or over thesounding-board.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combination, with asound-board for musical instruments, of thecompound support consisting of the ribs C and suspensionchords D,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a sound-board, the combination of board A, ribs 0, ribs D,superimposed on ribs 0, and connecting-pieces E, all substantially asdescribed.

3. As an improvement in sound-boards for musical instruments, thecompound support consisting of the ribs C, suspension-chords D, andposts or braces E, constructed and combined substantially as and for thepurpose set forth. I

THEODORE NEWIIOUSE.

\Vitnesses:

ALFRED STRANDBERG, llIAI'THIAS J OHNSON.

